Scouting

Val'Thaeiv gazed out at the endless expanse that was the Dark Plain beyond the Outer Edge. The things out there, the creatures, were stirring; gathering. The Watchers were worried, enough to co and see one of the Farseers. Nothing absolute could be predicted, but they did see a dark cloud, slowly gathering and encroaching on the city.

He had been called out, along with few others, to form a party. They knew he had wandered beyond the Outer Edge, and so wanted him to lead in the scouting mission; Val'Thaeiv saw no reason to question them. Switching his grey eyes to the four others that had gathered behind them, he did a visual check before asking them to list all supplies they had with them.

The check confirmed what he had guessed at; each member carried enough rations for only themselves, no extra armor, and only their lightest but most trusted weapons. This required stealth, so only rogues and one other archer had been chosen to go with him. Each knew the risks of going without a cleric, but they were prepared to take that chance.

A quick signal silently told them that the group was moving out, and they left silently, blending in with the dark air and rock that made up their surroundings. Val'Thaeiv knew that they did not have a heading, only a general direction, but he was confident he could lead his team to what they were looking for.

Keldrin grumbled quietly to himself. His teacher had sent him out to search for the Drow right after he had told him about the moon magic in the runes he wore. Sometimes he wondered to himself why he even told his teacher these things, they brought him more trouble than they were worth. Plus getting to Camp Ophisen wasn't easy, he had gotten lost a few times already. He would then have to make some excuse about needing to see the Drow. What was he supposed to say to him when they meet again? 'Hey, I'm addicted to the magic on your runes and decided that I need another dose, so stand still while I touch you', that would go so well. What surprised him the most was that he didn't reject the idea of finding the Drow when his teacher brought it up. He just packed up and left for the Camp.

After an hour of travelling, Keldrin found a place to sit down and rest. He really needed to work on his physical attributes, getting tired this easily wasn't a good thing. He pulled out some bread and munched on it slowly, thinking of some excuses. He rolled his eyes, he'd just blame it on his teacher. Tell him that his teacher was being a jerk and that he sent him to..... This wasn't going to work. He supposed he would just tell Val the truth, that his teacher wanted to see the runes. Keldrin paused, when did the Drow become Val? Keldrin smacked himself in the forehead. He couldn't go trusting everyone who wasn't a jackass to him and who didn't annoy him so much that he wanted to beg Xelveth to end his life.

Packing up to start travelling again, he noticed slight tremors. Swearing silently to himself, he picked up the pace to get to the camp. The last thing he wanted to was to mauled by rogues or worse, encounter a monster. He'd only heard stories from his teacher but he'd heard how vicious they were. The lucky ones were the ones that were instantly killed, the others suffered for quite sometime before actually dying. Keldrin started running in the direction of the camp, screw stealth, he just needed to get there fast.

Passing over the ground in silence as they left the camp far behind, Val'Thaeiv and his group continued straight on, not slowing through the ravines or ridges or plateaus they passed. The came to a high ridge and he called them to a halt, deciding to take a quick scan from their higher position.

Sweeping the area, Val'Thaeiv did not see anything at first that gave them a new direction. His eyes passed over the landscape again, slower this time, and caught a flash of movement. A leg of one of the creatures disappearing behind a distant rock. He signalled silently to his team and they were off again. They had no way of knowing if this was the grouping or if it was just a single monster, but it was all they had.

Approaching the rock that the something had disappeared behind, the five slowed to a stop, backs pressing against the cold stone. Cautiously, Val'Thaeiv peered around the edge, but did not see the mass that was supposed to be there if it had been their target. Instead, his eyes fixed on the entrance of a cave. He pulled back, signalled his team, and they crept inside, blending in with the dark walls.

They crept further along, the air becoming cooler with each pace, the walls slicker, the floor damper, and the roof started to drip moisture. A corner ended the wall they were inching along, and Val'Thaeiv peered around it.

Beyond their position, in a large cavern, stood a mass of at least fifty of the creatures, ranging vastly in size and shape. On a slightly raised part of the ground, stood what was obviously their leader, but looked like nothing more than a large spider.

Pulling back, Val'Thaeiv motioned for retreat and they all did so silently, returning to the high ridge they had paused on earlier before asking for an explanation.

"They are certainly gathering. There were approximately fifty of them, with what looked like a Drider leading them." he whispered, watching the others cast wary glances amongst themselves. A group that large wouldn't be a huge issue, but it was still worrying. If they attacked the city, huge casualties would be suffered.

Monience hid behind a rock quietly as one of the creatures passed, covering her mouth to quiet her breathing and her whimpering. She hated her father's grave being out so far, but that is where she buried him. She quickly shifted her weight and dashed forward making sure the creature was out of sight first. 'No need drawing attention to myself, but they are gathering much more than usual lately. I hope my father's grave is ok....' She thought to herself as she dodged through the small rocks and tunnels made by smaller less threatening creatures. Always checking to make sure nothing was there before she ran into the open.

It took her several hours of this before she finally made it to the site where a large rusted sword with a blue gem at the base of the blade sat in the ground holding up a broken and bloodied chest plate. she knelt down before it, running her hands over the blade. "Hello Daddy." She whispered. "I'm still alive. I wish you and mom were here though...." She closed her eyes remembering the night she was told he was lost in battle by a farseer. It took her a few days to come out and find the body. She was never told how he died, just that he did. As she got older and learned more, she kept coming out to inspect the armor for any clues she may have missed. But by now it has rusted over in places making it hard to see any clues. From what she could tell a sword or dagger pierced through the armor in his back straight through the heart, into the lung just barely poking out on the other side. If a blow through the heart didn't do the job either the punctured lung or the bleeding did. Ever since then Monience has been alone. Her mother disappeared long before her father died.

She stood up and turned around to come face to face with pack of creatures. On her first instinct she let out an ear piercing scream out of fear, causing them to recoil. When common sense returned she pulled out her wooden swords and prepared to make her stand. She knew that scream went far and she cursed herself for it. She was sure it was going to draw in even more of them and seal her demise.

Ears catching the echoing scream across the relatively barren plain, Val'Thaeiv turned slowly, trying to spot who or what it was that made the sound. At first glance, he could see nothing across the dark expanse. Flicking his eyes back, he squinted slightly and caught site of what he thought was movement; vague outlines of what looked like monsters appraoching a...smaller figure. Twisting his head back, he informed his team and sent them to that area, remaining on the ridge himself.

Val'Thaeiv summoned his bow and pulled it back, arrow materializing on the invisible string. The three prongs on the top and bottom bent further apart the further back he pulled the bow, and the view in the distace zoomed in to focus on specific bits of the scene between the upper prongs. The archer moved his bow miniscually to view the area and spotted Monience, surrounded by what looked like six creatures. Vaguely wondering how they had gotten so close without alerting the Watchers that constantly patrolled the border, he dismissed the thought with a blink and summoned another three arrows. He placed a tracking glyph on each and released them, watching them silently fly through the air towards their intended targets.

Keldrin heard the scream and debated with himself whether or not to go. The scream was close so whatever the hell made the person scream was also close. Swearing to himself he made his way towards the voice. At least if he went, he'd have a better chance of surviving than if he was caught alone with whatever was out there. He felt the ground trembling, there was obviously more than one creature. He really didn't know if he was doing the right thing. He hoped that the screamer was at least someone experienced so all he would have to do was back that person up with healing and using a shield spell to help with the defense.

When he was close enough, he realized his mistake. He assumed that the person would be stronger and he assumed he would be safer with that person. His hopes of surviving fell as he realized who it was exactly that screamed. It was that little fledging from the market place. He swore under his breath as he ran next to the fledging. "Tell me you are the top of your class and you have real weapons instead of those training sticks they call swords." Keldrin took out his stave as he casted a shield spell on the girl. "You better not make me regret coming to your rescue."

Monience blinked as Keldrin showed up. "Sorry, I can fight fine. Problem is that I don't have any real-" She blocked an attack as 3 arrows came out of nowhere killing 3 of the 6 creatures. "Weapons....." She finished. She looked back to the giant sword. "Sorry Daddy...." She commented as she threw off the armor and grabbed the sword. It's immense weight meant she'd have to throw her body weight into her attacks but it's size meant it would make a great shield. "Who ever fired those arrows just bought us some time....." She stood before Keldrin making sure she was between him and the creatures. One of them charged and she simply jumped up letting the weight of the weapon knock the creature back, but not damaging it much due to it's blunt edge. 'The sword's too old, I can't make a cut....but maybe I don't need to.' She spun so the sword came over her body and she brought it down on another creature that dodge out of the way. The sword indented into the ground and she had just enough time to bring up the hilt to block an attack by another creature. 'Come on, I know you're out there....something come soon....' she thought.

Keldrin wanted to punch something really bad and if they survived the first thing he's punching would be the fledging. Everyone knew not to leave the city without some sort of real weapon define themselves. Suddenly he heard the sound of people running towards them. Oh Xelveth, he knew that his god would not forsake him. He concentrated on the four and put a shield spell on for each one. Keldrin made sure to stay out of their way. He knew that they were fighting hard. He could feel the air shake with each block and attack that was made. When he started smelling blood, he made sure to cast healing spells onto the people. He knew that there was one archer and three rogues, judging by the way they moved around to fight. The archer would shuffle backwards while shooting arrows at the monsters while the rogues moved around their enemy quickly, slashing at them at any possible point. He wondered where they had come from, they were too organized to be a random band of people that just happened to be around. People didn't often go towards danger unless they were in danger as well and they didn't seem like they would have that many troubles. He knew there had to be at least another person, their leader had to be around somewhere.

Turning towards the kid he asked "you still alive?" He kind of hoped she wasn't, well okay he didn't want her dead but.... he was irritated. It was all his teacher's fault, if he hadn't ordered him to find Va--the Drow, he would not be in his position. When he got back, he was going to give his teacher a piece of his mind.

Moving towards the fight at a rapid pace after felling the three creatures, Val'Thaeiv listened as the sounds of battle grew louder as he approached. He continued his stride, not slowing as his bow re-materialized, arrow cocked in it already. Finally, he stopped just on the outer edge of the battle and fired his arrow, downing the last just as it was about to attack one of the rogues on his team.

Stepping forward, he let his bow disappear and quickly scanned the scene and his party, checking for injuries. Finding none, he let his gaze rest on each of the four in turn and received a nod, indicating they were all unharmed. Finally, he turned his murky stare to the two other figures which he now recognized.

"Your being out here is foolish. Not even of the 5th Division, you are not of adequate skill to defend yourselves against creatures such as this. Though the cleric I would say is slightly more qualified, having graduated and found a trainer." he hissed, eyes flicking to Keldrin briefly before switching back to Monience. He scanned them both briefly, then turned to his assigned team. "Return to camp and give the report. I shall return once I have escorted these two back to the city." he stated. The four nodded, saluted him, and then began making their way back to Camp Ophisen.

Val'Thaeiv turned to the two remaining and stepped forward, beginning his way back to Nagreon. He did not check to see if they were following him, he knew they would if they didn't want to get attacked by more of the creatures.

Monience watched Val walk off. She started to follow but immediatly realized she had the weapon still. "Um can you hold on a moment?" She asked, quickly moving to put the sword and armor back as it was. "I'll be back soon Daddy...." She said to the equipment before grabbing her wooden weapons and replacing them on her back. She then caught up with Val and Keldrin. "Um...Thank you both. I know that I shouldn't be out here but that spot is special to me..." She explained She had always intended to come back and make a proper grave but she never could. She felt bad for causing trouble for Keldrin and Val. But she was also happy that they showed up too. She didn't let that last bit of info show on her face, she had to look scolded or she was sure to get a punishment from atleast one of them if not both.

"......" He raised his hand and smacked her behind the head. "That's for not bringing proper weaponry." He took a couple of long strides so he was next to the male Drow. "It wasn't like I planned to be caught in that mess. My teacher thought it'd be all fun and games to send me out to search for you. He's curious about the runes and wanted to see them for himself. Though I've already told him that you wouldn't agree, he was too stubborn." 'Like the pot calling the kettle black.' He thought to himself. He had to convince the Drow to meet his teacher. His teacher was evil in the ways of training and always knew how to break him before the end of the training session. "Umm...Please?" That word felt foreign on his tongue. "It won't be long. The old man just wants to... Actually I have no clue what the hell he's going to do to you but I don't want to go through hell just cause I couldn't convince you to come with me." Keldrin felt his hand inching towards the male to touch one of the runes again. He wished he had never met the man, though he wondered to himself how the other Moon Elves did not notice the magic. He could just imagine a whole army of Moon Elves, waiting to serve him just so they could have a feel of the magic. He snorted at the idea. The poor man would never be allowed to rest without worrying about someone caressing him while he slept.

Val'Thaeiv paused in stride, turning his gaze to stare blankly at Keldrin, analyzing the words in his head. He was not offended that the Moon Elf had told his teacher; the archer had never said a word about keeping it a secret as most knew already, though not as many had seen what they knew existed.

Lifting his gaze, the older Drow spotted the walls of Nagreon not too far from them. He addressed Monience. "I will escort you back to the camp and have someone take you to the city. The creatures are close at hand and I do not need to be going out my way for a rescue twice." he whispered.

He altered his direction, facing towards Camp Ophisen. "We will venture with you until we get to the walls of Nagreon, and then I will go with you Keldrin. Just know that you will both be dead in an instant if this is an assassination attempt." he warned softly before setting off towards where his team had gone, barely picking out the tops of the tents over the bleak horizon.

Monience rubbed the back of her head where Keldrin had hit her nodding to Val as she stayed silent and followed. 'I really made a mess in an instant....' She thought to herself. 'Atleast no one died.' She watched as Keldrin and Val talked about meeting Keldrin's teacher. She was hoping she could find one soon. Until then she was going to atleast keep training. She stayed behind the two, keeping up while contemplating on getting a new weapon or atleast venturing out one day to bring the sword back to her home once the grave was properly done. That would have to wait for a while thought until she could get passed the creatures and backwith out being attacked.

Keldrin was pleased with himself, he'd somehow managed to convince Val to go meet his teacher. He suddenly felt awkward, he never actually had to be escorted before. But then again, his teacher didn't send him out that often for him to get into too much trouble. Sure he'd helped create some fights, making comments to fuel the fire just because it was fun to hear the people beat the snot out of each other over something trivial. But the thing that made him feel most awkward was that he needed to be saved. It made him feel useless to an extent. He was so going to beat his teacher later, if he had the chance. He was sure his teacher would disappear off to somewhere after he met the Drow.

"Why were they so close?" Keldrin said to no one in particular. The monsters have never gotten that close to a camp before, so what changed to make them so much more aggressive. He wondered if it was a sign that something big was about to happen. Perhaps the bind was going to break and the promise Xelveth made them would finally happen. Just the idea of that excited him. The first thing he was going to do if he ever got to UE was soak in the magic from the moon. Then he'd help slaughter the humans and Sun Elves.

Deciding not to answer as the other male did not need to know yet, Val'Thaeiv continued on silently, brisk stride having brought them to the camp in a short amount of time.

Entering, the archer weaved between the tents and found his team, sitting in a cricle as they awaited his arrival. Val'Thaeiv approached the Watcher by them, gave his own report to confrim that of his teams, and then addressed the rogue who looked to be readying himsel to return to Nagreon. "I request your presence with our group. I am escorting these two back to the city, and if there are any other close groups, the extra skill would be appreciated."

The other nodded and the group set off, the remaining three having been positioned at the camp in the first place. Val'Thaeiv led, the rogue in the back to protect against surprise attacks. Several times the archer made the group pause, having caught several sounds not too far from their position. Each time, the noises faded away without incident and the group continued on in silence.

The small group arrived at the city promptly. The rogue accompanying saluted Val'Thaeiv and left. Returning the gesture swiftly, he did the same to Monience and turned to Keldrin, waiting for him to lead the way.

Keldrin gave a sigh, "follow me." He quickly made his way pass the infirmary, trying to ignore the stench of blood. It made him want to gag so badly. He knew he had to help them later since his teacher had this thing about building good reputation among people. He snorted at the thought. "You never answered me about the monsters. Why were they so close to the city? It's never happened before you know." Keldrin glanced over at the male next to him. He was keeping something from him and he wanted to know exactly what it was. He hated to have to walk through the city, it wasn't that it was too crowded, it was just that sometimes people would stop you and ask you stupid questions. When he felt someone approach him, he deliberately quickened his pace. When he felt the person walk away and grunt, he slowed down a bit. "If you aren't going to tell me about the monsters. Tell me about your runes. How did you acquire them? How come a Drow like you has them but not Moon Elves. How many others have runes like yours?" Keldrin was going to add more questions but he realized that they finally reached the apprentice quarters. He could feel the stares as he walked pass some tents.

"Hey old man, are you still alive? Or do I need to bury your corpse?" Keldrin said as he entered into his teacher's tent. He could here a grunt and some muttering about an ungrateful brat. Keldrin rolled his eyes as he gestured for Val to take a seat. "I brought the Drow like you told me to. Nearly got me killed too. Monsters came out of no where and attacked." He decided to leave out the part about helping the fledging, his teacher would lecture him for hours on end about helping others when he didn't even have the ability to help himself first. "Killed? HA! You're like a roach, no matter how many times I try to kill you, you never die." Keldrin rubbed his temples, his teacher always said stuff like that. "Not now old man. We got a guest, didn't you say something before about being polite and crap when there were guests around?" He heard shuffling as his teacher came out from his sleeping area. "Don't you get smart with me, I can still kick your ass once he's gone you know. Now....." His teacher turned to the Drow then smacked Keldrin over the head. "Well? Aren't you going to introduce us?" It took all of Keldrin's control not to punch his teacher in the face. "Val'Thaeiv, this is my teacher the great blah blah blah Terin. Teacher, Val'Thaeiv is the Drow who has the moon magic runes that I told you about." Keldrin stood to the side as he let his teacher examine the Drow.

Val'Thaeiv allowed the teacher to examine him in silence, opting to not answer Keldrin's questions now that they were in another's presence, unless they were restated.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Terin. Why did you wish to see me?" he asked quietly, taking in his surroundings with a few flicks of his murky eyes, before they landed on the man he was talking to, waiting for answer.

A sudden shout from outside alerted Val'Thaeiv to something happening, but when nothing else sounded, alarms, screams or otherwise, he simply assumed it was another fight about to break out until the Watcher he had switched places with went to stop it. Turning his attention back, he saw that Keldrin's teacher had paused as well, and the Drow suspected he would get his answer soon.

Monience wandered through the streets aimlessly as she thought. It was hard for her to do much of anything. People pushed her away constantly. 'Val, Keldrin....how can I be as strong as you?' She asked herself with a sigh. She had ended up at the academy. The one place she preferred to avoid. The teachers never taught her fast enough. She usually learned things fast, asked the questions no one else would ask. But eventually they pushed her away, lies and deceit taking over their minds where hers kept hope and truth. No one trusted her and just used her. Eventually she started skipping preferring to do other things. Training on her own learning different ways to move in a fight. She was far from perfect but she was trying. Sighing and figuring someone had seen her by now she wandered in. She was going to be scoulded for the last month and a half, but there's no avoiding it now. SHe lost herself in thought again to keep herself aloof.

"This is not good.....Come on you two, we're going to go see what's going on." Terin grabbed his cloak and bag and headed out. Keldrin merely nodded and followed after him. Keldrin could hear his teacher mutter something to himself. Terin took some time and slowed down so he walked side by side with the other two males. "What you asked before, why I wanted to see you," Terin addressed the Drow. "It was because...I heard some rumors before about....people who were chosen like you. I just never believed it to be true. But seeing it for myself...." Terin was cut off by a scream. Swearing, he ran off into the direction of the infirmary.

Terin pushed through the entrance of the infirmary and took in the panic that was set in. He turned to the two males. "Well....Go off and see what you can do to help. And Keldrin, try not to hinder the young man. When you find out what happened, come back and tell me, you got that you brat?" With that said he shooed them off with his hand as he went off somewhere. Keldrin turned to Val'Thaeiv, "well you heard what he said. Let's go find out what happened and not get killed." Keldrin grunted as he turned back and went outside. He halted for a moment, "where do we go first?"

Choosing to ignore the apprentice cleric for the time being, Val'Thaeiv swept the area with his eyes. He turned to look through the nearby gate and saw what was attacking. A small band of Grievers; particularly annoying creatures but not anything that the Watchers and Divisions couldn't handle.

Turning around, he spotted one crawling over the roof of a nearby building. His bow materialized and he shot it, killing it on impact. Finished this, he turned to look at Keldrin. "You will be useless against Grievers, but if you must come on orders from your trainer then stay close to me. The Watchers on the outside can easily defend the walls against this small number, but we don't know how many are already inside." he explained calmly amidst the screaming of civilians. He swivelled and took off into city.

The archer arrived in the Marketplace and spotted two other Grievers and the 5th Division wizards attempting to contain them. Val'Thaeiv aimed and killed one. The other knocked it's assailants back and focused on the Drow, mouth opening and emitting a horrible, low keening. Val'Thaeiv winced as the grey glow receeded from his weapon, instead replaced with a blinding light that was pure Upper Earth magic. Gritting his teeth, he released another arrow, spearing the Griever in the neck and killing it instantly. The bright glow returned to it's original state and Val'Thaeiv frowned at it but continued on, heading towards the Academy.

Monience heard something moving towards her. Using her senses she could tell it was moving fast in her direction. And it was huge. Turning around she jumped back out of the way of an attack. "Damn it!" She shouted getting mad. Her attitude was already at it's lowest point today with having to move her father's sword and armor to fight today. "Why won't you guys JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!?!"

She rushed in with out pulling her sword out, instead she dodged the attacks of the creature. It's large mass making it hard to get behind it. After a few tries she slipped under after pulling out a dagger and yanked it hard across the leg so it fell briefly. She too the time to climb up on it's back using the knife as a climbing tool. "I don't know WHO you think you are but you made the wrong mistake trying to eat me today!" She started jabbing it hard with the knife as it tried to throw her from it's back. eventually it worked and she went rolling across the ground to get out of the way of another attack.

Coming up to the school, Val'Thaeiv spotted a Griever engaged in battle and took aim, slashing it's head off with his arrow. Moving to the body, he glanced at the little girl from before and then assessed the cadaver. He noted the dagger wounds, probably from the young warrior, but saw that there were no other markings on it, meaning it was not being controlled by a magical creature.

The archer stood and addressed Monience. "Being a warrior just saved your life." he whispered. "These things are able to cancel out any magic used by any classes. Since you are merely a melee, you had a bit of an advantage." he explained before taking off towards the Apprentice Quarters, expecting the pair to follow.

Monience stood up dusting her self off. Her swords broke when she collided with the ground and she had several scrapes and bruises but nothing too serious. Her attitude had changed from earlier, almost as if her usual confidence and pride had dissipated into hatred and sadness. "I don't feel so lucky....What's going on? what is that thing?" She asked in an almost mono-tone voice. She wanted to leave the academy as soon as possible but she wasn't sure Val would see her as a benefit for helping, instead she kept quiet, hiding her face behind her bangs so her emotions wouldn't show as she followed Val. "When will I be strong?" She asked herself in barely a whisper, not noticing she said it.

"You will be strong when your time comes." Keldrin said as he healed her wounds before he quickly followed Val'Thaeiv. There didn't seem to be too much chaos going around but the fact that those monsters got in was troubling him. They were usually stupid beings that couldn't plan an attack let alone succeed. Perhaps he was thinking too much about it. He had a feeling that Val'Thaeiv might have an idea on what was going on. Right now was probably not the best time to pester him but when has that ever stopped him from asking. "You know something don't you?" Keldrin hissed quietly so the fledging could not hear. "Why are the monsters attacking the city? Better yet, how the hell did they get through?" Keldrin had to practically jog to keep up with the Drow. Keldrin slowed down a bit to make sure the fledging was keeping up before quickening his pace again. He knew they were heading towards the apprentice quarters but he wasn't quite sure there was a need to. There were teachers there after all or so he thought.

Continuing his pace, Val'Thaeiv turned a corner, shooting another Griever as they passed it. Dodging the falling corpse, he spotted the Apprentice Quarters not too far from them. He slowed to a stop at the entrance, turning to the pair following him.

"They're called Grievers. Attacking the city is not unusual for their kind; they're more intelligent than a lot of the other creatures roaming outside the border. They came through the Westurn edge, through Camp Rimlek. It would've been easiest for them, as they can cancel spells. They killed everyone there, and then headed for Nagreon, where the circled the walls. By now, warriors, archers, and rogues will be fighting them all off. Those that didn't circle around came in through the West gate." he explained quietly. "Stay here." the order was swift and Val'Thaeiv turned and crept into the building behind him before either could protest.

Inside, the Drow slid along the walls, utilizing his rogue training to it's fullest extent. Sounds of a battle from further inside attracted his attention, and Val'Thaeiv sped his pace slightly, navigating the halls with ease before emerging into a large open area. Eyes caught on several warrior and rogue apprentices fighting off a Griever, while the wizards and clerics tried desperately to get their spells to work.

Just as the creature rose it's arms to deliver what could be a fatal blow to those in front of it, Val'Thaeiv released his prepped arrow and killed it. The novices looked over and then ran out of the building, thanking the Drow as they passed him. Checking the rst of the rooms quickly, Val'Thaeiv determined that nothing and no one else were in the building and made his way to the entrance.